Chiefs

1968

In 1968, Leacock and I were approached by PBL (later to become PBS) to think up a film about police, the only requirement was that there must be a policeman at the start of the film, standing in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC.

That done, Leacock and Noel Parmentel Jr., a friend and occasional collaborator (Campaign Manager) who knew people in high places, discovered a Police Chief’s Convention in Hawaii on Waikiki beach and rushed off to film it. The police were so enamored by the film that it was shown at their next national convention as evidence of their illustrious public image. Later when an officer saw it running as a short with Monterey Pop he realized that for that film’s youthful audience, their image was not what they had assumed. It was not shown at their next convention.